Yost: Rickie's "doing fine," but has "never achieved"

[yount19.u]

Weeks is the Derrick Turnbow of our infield. Time to let Durham have a few more shots at helping the team, or at least, not hurting the team like Rickie has done so well this year.

[fondybrewfan]

I like Rickie but why did he have to pick last night to just throw up a stinker? It seems he just doesn't have the mental capacity to stay consistent throughout an entire year, perhaps he lacks confidence I don't know. It just seems he has more than his fair share of awful games.

 

That DP wasn't as simple as everyone is making it out to be, Johnson came in there awfully hard, he still should have made the play but it wasn't like he was out at 2nd making the throw with no one bearing down on him.

 

He didn't look especially good at the plate, I am now worried since we face 3 tough right handers the rest of the series.

[Mr QL]

So, ugh, after sleeping on it I'll change my stance of Weeks must die however I don't see any reason for Rickie to play over Durham right now. Durham might not have range or the occasional power now but he does everything else better. If they're playing Rickie for his defense, they need to have their heads checked. I really doubt Rickie will ever put it together and be the player he was suppose to be.

[sheethead]

If Rickie is going to turn the corner, he needs to help the team win games instead of help to lose games. Ray Durham is a better option right now. It doesn't even seem close to a hard decision. And now that Rickie gave Yost about 4 reasons to bench him last night, I will be a frustrated fan if I see him in the lineup tonight (or the rest of the series for that matter).

[davego]

If Rickie is going to turn the corner, I'm all for it...in March. I'm sure the brass hates to do it to him, but Ned has talked in one of his rambles about production and holding players accountable. This might be the time.

[fondybrewfan]

If Yost can platoon Billy Hall Hall for sucking earlier this year I see no reason he can't bench Rickie. Heck Yost is a platoon machine, between 3rd base, our #5 spot, last year's outfield situation. He as platoonism in his DNA. Seems to me that 2nd base is looking like a good platoon opportunity with left handed Durham going against righties and right handed Durham against lefties. See what I did there? The ultimate one man platoon. The ideal situation with Rickie and his underachieving butt on the bench

[Mr QL]

I think we should platoon Durham, Counsell, and occasionally Dillon at 2B and let Rickie figure himself out in Nashville.

[TauPentaRei]

Alexei Ramirez spoils me. What a joy to watch such an artisanally beautiful craftsman practice his trade.

 

"Plug" the young Cuban - and his .309 / .331 / .464 with the Platinum-Glove caliber defense - into the franchise and you can start WS talk.

 

 

Here is the doubly brutal edge sword on Weeks:

 

1) for the complete utter lack of offensive production you get... you certainly can be satisfied if he is in the top third of defensive 2B.

 

OR

 

2) if he is a world beater at the plate (e.g. 2007 3B Braun) you can be satisfied if he is a butcher in the field.

 

 

We. Get. Neither.

[FVBrewerFan]

TooLiveBrew wrote:

This is my main point on tonight's misplays by Weeks. Looking at them objectively, the DP was not easy (might not have been hard, but it wasn't easy), and the ball Fukudome hit was scorched, and one that Durham probably had next to no shot to get. The sheer fact that Weeks got his glove on that ball was what led to so much disappointment on that play. Many starting 2B can't even get to that kind of ball. Just mo.

Sorry, i can't agree at all on the play where Fukudome was at the plate. I had the play on my DVR and the ball wasn't scorched, he hit it off the end of the bat and the ball was hit medium grounder speed, enough time to bounce three times before getting to Weeks. There was no great range involved either by Weeks just getting a glove on the ball. Weeks took two small steps to his right and instead of just backhanding the ball, he chose to fall on the ground while trying to backhand it for whatever reason. At most Weeks moved 3-5 feet to his right, IMO it was closer to an error than hit after watching the play multiple times. Durham may have also bungled the backhand, but i have zero doubt he'd have got a glove on it, the play initially looked way tougher than it really was.

 

That's no surprise to me though. While Weeks has improved at balls hit right at him and here and there he'll make a great play, Rickie has poor hands when he has to range to either side of him. Balls way to often bounce off or under his glove on boarderline hit/error plays because he's just not an instinctual defensive player, like that Fukudome ball, Rickie should have fielded that ball. If that was to Counsell, i'd bet 8 or 9 times out of 10 that Craig at worst gets one out from that ball.

 

 

I agree with all that. Plus, there was another play early in the game, a little cue shot over his head that most (IMHO) 2B would catch. Again, poor reaction time and then misjudged it. In fact, Weeks seems to often misjudge balls in the air. You'll see a line drive (even soft liners) pass through his area and I scratch my head...."did he just whif at that?"

[Fear The Chorizo]

With 3 righthanded starters going the rest of this series for the Cubs, I really hope Durham starts all three. Defensively, I know he's a liability, but so is Weeks. For all the talent Weeks has, it simply hasn't translated on the field to make him a consistent asset. He's made several baserunning gaffes after being duped as to where the ball is by middle infielders. He can't hit his way out of a paper bag (or to the opposite field, ever) when a pitcher throws him offspeed. His botched double play throw last night cost the team 2 runs, the difference in the game. He also couldn't handle a non-routine grounder from Kosuke earlier that inning that could have led to a double play and kept CC from throwing another 20 pitches that inning.

 

I've always been a defender of Weeks, but it's gotten to the point where I'm questioning whether he's ever going to be a good baseball player at the major league level, or if he's destined to be one of those toolsy guys who doesn't ever figure it out.

[TauPentaRei]

...but it's gotten to the point where I'm questioning whether he's ever going to be a good baseball player at the major league level...

 

 

but he waggles his bat!

[naivin]

It dawned on me last night, that Rickie Weeks is Terrell Buckly...only without the big mouth and undeserved swagger. He is a guy that shows flashes of brilliance in his abilities and athleticism, and just how good he could theoretically be, but when you get right down to it, most of the time he's just bad.

 

I hope like heck to be wrong on this, but it is looking more and more like he will have a career much like Buckley's...occasionally making some big or spectacular contributions, but overall play 10-years or so of below-average baseball.

[Invader3K]

I've said it before, but look at how many young guys the Brewers have called up over the last 4+ years...maybe Rickie is just going to be the one bust out of the bunch. The Brewers have had a great string of success with their young guys (a surprising amount, frankly), but you can't win 'em all.

[MillerParkSouth]

http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2008/07/29/accountability-time-for-weeks.aspx

 

New blog up from the jsonline crew. Hard to disagree with the logic here. Rickie has had every opportunity to show he can play, we can't wait for him anymore if we're serious about making the post season.

[RyDogg66]

Weeks isnt Buckley, he is Glenn Braggs. All hype, a monster in the minors, never fulfilled potential.

[Roscoe Chill]

Sorry guys, that double play was a routine double play at the major league level. Of course the runner came sliding in hard. Tailor made, routine double play...out of the inning. Instead two runs and an eventual loss. As Tom Haudricourt said, it's big boy time now. Excuses like Johnson came in sliding hard doesn't cut it.

[homer]

Wow, that's as harsh an article as I've seen Tom H write.

 

As much as I think Weeks will eventually be a really good player, it's probably time he be replaced. I could see him breaking out with a new team but nto with Milwaukee (ala Brandon Phillips).

[fondybrewfan]

In related news Yost will never talk to Haudricourt again. I am suprised TH wrote that blog because you can guarantee the Brewers brass isn't going to like it one bit, even if it is true. It also makes me think if Rickie ever reads these ttypes of things.

 

He is right, Rickie has had ample time to prove himself. All he has proven is that is defense has only gotten marginally better since his rookie year and he hasn't progressed at all offensively except for a couple good months late last year.

[RyDogg66]

The biggest problem is that Rickie was too good at AA and AAA. He could have used a few more seasons in the minors, fine tuning his defense and becoming a better hitter. He was a fulltime player by the age of 22. For comparison sake, Brandon Phillips was also a full time player at 22 for the Tribe but put up a Weeks-ish .208/.242/.311 line, and was rightfully sent back down. He played 12 more games in the bigs over the next two years before ultimately running out of options and being traded to the Reds. It was finally his age 25 season (where Weeks is now) that he started to put things together, and had his breakout year last year, at age 26.

 

Chase Utley didnt even sniff the bigs until he was 24, played two partial seasons with the Phils and in his age 26 season he blew up.

 

Dan Uggla didnt break into the bigs until age 26, and I think only because he was Rule 5 guy.

 

Ian Kinsler didnt come into the bigs until age 24, he has been good since he started, but has blown up this year at age 26.

 

I guess what I am getting at here is that I blame Melvin a little bit for rushing Weeks to the big leagues. Aside from a torrid start to this AAA season in 2005 at Nashville, Weeks was just a little above average before that - in a full season at Huntsville the year before he had a .752 OPS, that doesnt scream success at the major league level. If the Brewers had been patient with Rickie we might be seeing his 2nd full year and he might have more success at this level than he is having now.

 

Biggest fear is that he is Adrian Beltre, who was rushed by the Dodgers and figured it out just in time to hit the FA market. It would suck to watch Rickie struggle and then in his 6th year hit .280/.390/.500 and walk with a big contract.

[davego]

I seriously hope Rickie becomes Brandon Phillips, be it here or in Kansas City; but for the remainder of the season I'm just not sure how the other players can count on him...or how he really can be confident enough to be effective.

[TauPentaRei]

Bravo Tom, bravo. Dang!

 

Is there a Pulitzer category for mid-day blogging?

 

What is Absolutely KILLING me today is the pitch CC made on Derek there: Bases loaded, one out, the backbone of the Cubs (for better or worse) at-bat, juuuust got the lead, crowd is roaring Jacked, Full. Count., CC laboring with B stuff way past pitch count comfort zone... it was precisely the perfect pitch. Grounder. So instead of 5 - 0 CC talk and stoking the NL Cy Young talk, I have to avoid the "D Lee is so clutchy" articles.

 

If Rickie wants to go to the Bullpen to be a submariner, fine. I have the biggest problem when he drops his arm angle to - not even 3/4 - more like 55/100 on most plays. Hall and Hardy have Guns with a capital G. Hell, when Rickie is the cut-off man and needs to make a throw home, Rickie has a gun too. But his arm mechanics become so fundamentally and fatally flawed when the chips are on the table. Even if that throw was on-line there was so little gas on it the play may have a tie. That throw was a complete diarhea fart out of his hand.

 

Also, he was so stiff on that play the Brewers should consider getting him on Dancing With The Stars. After watching the Sox / A. Ramirez more closely it's like someone turned my 2B-TV from black & white to color - the delta for skill differential is just eye-poppingly evident.

[thunderbat30]

In related news Yost will never talk to Haudricourt again. I am suprised TH wrote that blog because you can guarantee the Brewers brass isn't going to like it one bit, even if it is true. It also makes me think if Rickie ever reads these ttypes of things.

Wow. TH threw Weeks under the bus (probably well-deserved) but that takes some guts when you are the team's beat writer. I give him kudos for doing it.

[naivin]

I guarantee that neither Ned or Rickie would necessarily disagree with what he wrote there - at least privately. Ned will likley stand behind Rickie with his words at the very least, and that is absolutely the right thing to do, but I would guess that most in the organization - likley including Ned - would tend to agree with TH on this. The organization obviously still has high hopes for him, which certainly makes this tougher, but lets face it, there is a reason they acquired Durham. I would assume Weeks will probably continue to get opportunities in some form, but I also have to assume he will see those opportunities steadily diminish if his level of play doesn't pick up pretty drastically, and quickly.

[Gobias Industries]

thunderbat30[/b]]Wow. TH threw Weeks under the bus (probably well-deserved) but that takes some guts when you are the team's beat writer. I give him kudos for doing it.

 

Yost doesn't talk to Haudricourt anymore anyways after the "Yost fired" fiasco. The guy is an embarrassment to his profession.

 

Tom H has been waiting for this moment for the last year. He's been giving subtle (not really) hints in his blog as early as the beginning of last season that Weeks should be replaced.

 

Weeks deserves a ton of criticism for last night though. It's hard for one person to lose a game that is as team-oriented as baseball, but he was damn close. He should be on the bench the rest of the series, not just for his performance last night, but for the RH'ers scheduled the next three.

[sheethead]

I am on the same page with TH on this blog. And I have been on this page all year. Rickie needs to be moved to another team or off the roster. He makes more of a negative impact than he does positive. Unless of course we all think he will be turning the corner soon and magically become the player we all want him to be. That approach would have been fine for me in 2003,4,5. Its not a good approach this year, a year they are going for it. Trying to predict if Weeks is going to be better the rest of the year is a high risk, moderate reward proposition. And with many other positions shored up for this run, there is no room for a high risk project in the infield. Play the proven vets, and put the Weeks project on hold.